Another great product....Occasionally I find fruits / veggies at the supermarket that need to be used up right away, so they are really cheap. If I have the time to deal with them (sometimes if the price is right, I stay up at night making the time), I always take advantage of the deal. I happened across a bunch of cheap - read free - yellow and red Hungarian wax peppers (mild/ medium heat) at Harvey Floral (in-laws business). The colors were so bright I knew that these would make a beautiful jelly.
The recipe I followed came directly from the package instruction sheet that comes inside a box of Pomona's Pectin. I ordered this in a cost saving two pound bulk amount four years ago and it still works great, shelf life is indefinite. According to the instructions and recipe sheet this can also be used as a fat free homemade salad dressing thickener. I tried it once several years ago and it worked... I now use xanthan gum for this because I do gluten free baking sometimes and usually have it on hand, but now back on topic.
When I first ordered this pectin I made some fresh grape jelly that began to form crystals... yeah, real crystals. I called the Jam-line (this is listed on their web page) and talked to the owner of this small business. She helped me find out why this was so and problem solved with me. I even heard her stirring up a batch of jam in the background! With so much abundance of fresh fruit and veggies around us, it is so easy to make your own NATURAL (I use stevia) low sugar or all fruit jellies/ jams. Plus, each box of pectin comes with full directions on making a wide variety of jam flavors using a variety of methods. For 25 Cents more I sent in to get another recipe page (this may cost a bit more now since postage have increased).
I give this product several money saving finger licks and no I don't receive any financial benefit for saying this. In support of small businesses, I highly recommend you try your hand at making some jelly using this natural pectin. The really cool thing about doing this is that you can let your creative energy flow by making your jam to suit your taste and dietary needs.
USES: I like to serve this jam on cornbread (like a dessert) when I make chili. It is also good on top of whole grain crackers schmeared with some soy cream cheese. I noticed that Vicki at the vegetarian family blog made some with habenero peppers awhile ago (woooo-wee... pretty hot for me) and offers other serving ideas.
More about PEARS.
I just got three new cookbooks (thanks to my older but shorter sis for the birthday present gift certificate!). One is Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker By Robin Robertson. She has a recipe in there for crock pot GINGERED PEAR BUTTER. It's not to heavy on the sugar nor the ginger. This pear butter is delish on toast/ pancakes/ waffles in the morning and rice cream in the evening! I made this with the last of the pears that were given to me ... they ripened to fast for me to do much else with.
15 comments:
Ooh, I've been on the lookout for pepper jelly but the only ones I can find contain a lot of sugar. I'm too intimidated to make my own though.
Pepper jelly is one of my favoritest things ever! :)
Oooh!! Gingered pear butter!? Sounds amazing! My slow cooker is ready to try that!
Leave it to you to stay up at night making time to make stuff with fruits & veggies whose time of freshness would otherwise be up. You are so cool, Dori!
Way to free the free wax peppers, by the way. Good ol' Harvey Floral!! :o)
It is so cool to see you use xanthan gum, as i have no idea what that is and i can't tell you how many times i have seen this as an ingredient in something!
Call the Jam-line! That sounds like a good lyric for some song... But in all seriousness, that's great they have that on the pectin crystals, a really neat thing itself (themselves)...
I appreciate you supporting small businesses, by the way. I refuse to shop at Wal-Mart, and i have since they moved into SoCal... because they are such mom-n-pop destroyers, but not just that, it's because they are so reckless and non-compassionate about being that way. (rant over!)
Anyway, it's nice that you point this place out. Thank you!
And PEAR BUTTER! Yummy. Sounds really great. But of course i would say that as i am a huge fan of pears.
Pear butter. Hhhmmm...that coul dmake fall just a little more bearable.
You always come up with such clever and interesting recipes. Pear butter sounds delicious AND made in the slow cooker - how cool is that?
Correct me if I'm wrong - you need to actually can the jelly, right? I really want to make my own and kick the sugar laden jellies but I've never canned before. You know what I was thinking? I was thinking about posting a message at the rec center in the senior section. Maybe there's a nice woman (or man, I suppose) who would be willing to show me the ropes.
Dori, you're amazing. I bet you're right about the canning supplies. Maybe I'll really strike it lucky and find someone willing to cheaply sell me their pressure canner!
Me again! Thanks for your comments and that amazing story about anemia! WOW! I love hearing good news like that!
I never tried bottled wheatgrass juice since I've never seen that anywhere, but I do think fresh would be more powerful. Did you notice any other improvements/benefits? It took me about 2 weeks to really notice the changes!
Anyhow, thanks again for the great info!
hi dori! your pepper jelly sounds so good, and thank you for adding the natural pectin link - i need to get some of that. my mouth is literally watering for the pear upside down cake!
I have that cookbook and really want to try the pear butter. Thanks for this post and recommending it! Cherie
Hurray for free produce. Gotta love that. The pepper jelly and the pear butter look great! I have that slow cooker cookbook but didn't realize there was a pear butter recipe. Thanks for the heads up :) I've made the Hoppin' John from that cookbook and it was pretty good (makes a whole heap of food though!) Glad I inspired you to make Dreena's Thai Stew. Rob asked me to make that stew again this weekend.
Hello Dori! Hello Ladies! :)
Pears...I haven't had them in a while...should buy some soon! Thanks for the suggestion!
I made Pinapple Muffins/Cupcakes without the frosting...haha. They were very moist. VERY MOIST. I blogged about them...any tips?
super cookies, i can't wait to try them!
It was certainly interesting for me to read this post. Thanks for it. I like such topics and anything that is connected to them. I would like to read more soon.
Julia Swenson
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